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Description

The Gharial is a companion unit to the Mastodon, designed to support the Mastodon in situations that the super heavy tank cannot take on (except attacking airborne units). Striking a balance between armor and speed, the amphibious Gharial is equipped with two powerful ground-based weapons: a powerful dual power cannon similar to the one used by Kingsframes, and grenade launchers; in tandem, these weapons can quickly pummel structures and defensive emplacements, leaving them in ruins. The Gharial also serves as an armored personnel transport, carrying two Knightframes within its vast hull, ready to take the fight to the enemy.

But that’s not all: Gharials are built with survivability in mind. As such, Gharial plating is greatly reinforced to prevent a host of battlefield hazards from affecting it, its crew, or its occupants. Thus, Gharials are completely immune to the effects of – among other things – radiation, chemical poisoning, freezing, EMP, and even Foehn confusion rays.

Overview

Last Bastion's Gharial, as its official description puts it as, is the polar opposite of the Mastodon. While the super heavy plasma railgun-armed tank excels at reducing vehicles into charred scrap, it cannot do much against infantry and structures. This is where the Gharial comes in to use - its weapons are very effective against both infantry and structures. They are also amphibious, meaning a wily commander can slip them behind defense lines and inflict some serious damage where the enemy might not expect a waterborne assault from. It is also pre-loaded with two Knightframes straight out of the War Factory in order to provide it with some infantry backup if needed.

While they are already formidably armored in their own right, Gharials are also immune to almost every known battlefield hazard (radiation, poisoning, electromagnetic pulses, etc.) meaning they are often an ideal unit that can effectively remove specialized threats without too much fear of retaliation, such as Desolators. The big exception is mind-control; since version 3.3.2, Gharials are now prime targets for mind-control, meaning the Last Bastion will have more difficulty assaulting Epsilon bases which are riddled with psychic defenses.

Gharials cannot attack aircraft and even with their heavy armor, will likely suffer heavy casualties if forced to deal with heavy base defense lines. It does not help either that Last Bastion lacks a Tier 3 dedicated anti-aircraft vehicle and artillery unit, meaning the Gharial must rely on large numbers to break through defenses while anticipating costly casualties.

In conclusion, the Gharial is an important complement to any Last Bastion armored column - especially if the commander in question plans to use Mastodons to their full potential.

Appearances

Gharial prototypes bearing the Chinese color scheme, then unnamed, appear in Heartwork at the start of the mission, which may give a hint towards Foehn's history.